For years, the self-service shipping industry has allowed shipping customers to pack packages for shipment to destinations all over the world. Retail stores allow customers to drop off packages including self-packed merchandise, and then select a shipping service for the package. This merchandise may include any number of items, including fragile items such as glassware, artwork, or china, to more robust items, such as clothing, books, or documents. After payment for the shipping service, the package is transported via the shipping carrier to the destination.
Allowing customers to pack their own merchandise, however, has proved problematic in certain situations. Some customers are infrequent shippers, and thus, are not skilled in the area of packaging merchandise. Other customers, such as small businesses, may ship more frequently but may not package the merchandise sufficiently due to time constraints or budget considerations. Regardless of the reason, many times the merchandise within the package may be improperly packaged, and thus, may be susceptible to damage.
The task of educating customers on proper packaging, however, is a task that also proves problematic for shipping carriers. Each particular type of merchandise and final destination may present a different shipping recommendation, prohibiting a generalized tutorial available in a form most customers will take the time to read. Thus, to determine proper packaging for a particular piece of merchandise, a customer may resort to transmitting a question to the shipping carrier by telephone, e-mail, or in person at a retail shipping outlet. These questions, regardless of their form, require manpower or other resources to handle and may result in customer churn if not promptly answered.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a method and system for efficiently educating customers on how to properly package merchandise for shipment to a final destination.